Archive for the ‘SIG-III news’ Category

Due to server hosting changes at NEASIST, the SIG-III Blog has moved to its new location. Please update your links and RSS feeds. (Also, thanks to NEASIST for hosting the SIG-III Blog since 2006!)

This change has prompted the second appearance change in six months, but the new appearance retains all of the functionality of the old site — the prominent links to the “About us” section and RSS feeds in the upper right, the search bar underneath that, and the hierarchical post categories in the right sidebar. Beyond that, the new URL is the only other change.

I’m with the hamsters — we have reason to celebrate! I’m glad to announce that SIG-III has won the SIG of the year award for 2008-2009. The following is from yesterday’s official announcement from ASIS&T:

The 2009 SIG of the Year is SIG International Information Issues (SIG III). One of the jury members summed up the appeal of SIG III very well: “SIG-III has a well-established pattern of service to the international community as well as to the Society. Their membership makes up in enthusiasm what it may lack in size, and they have a large and very task-oriented executive committee. They communicate effectively with their membership through a bi-monthly newsletter, alternating with one to the executive committee. They bring new members into the association through their InfoShare program, and their paper competition is an excellent mechanism for bringing scholars to the conference who would be otherwise unable to attend. Their international reception is one of the highlights of the annual conference, and they make good use of the event as a venue for fundraising for their many awards. As a SIG, they have very high visibility and as a consequence they make all members, not just their own SIG, aware of ASIS&T’s potential role in international scholarship.” Unlike many other SIGs, III recognizes that the work of this society is not solely accomplished at this annual meeting, but consists of small activities throughout time and space and across national, cultural, and linguistic boundaries. Congratulations to SIG III, and particularly to Aaron Bowen, chair, and all the other officers of SIG III, for being this year’s ASIS&T SIG of the Year.

Also, in an informal e-mail, SIG Cabinet Director KT Vaughan let me know that this is the fifth year straight our SIG has won this award. Thank you all for a wonderful and productive year!

With this announcement, I would also like to pose a challenge for you all. The challenge is two-fold:

One, I would like to call upon everyone to introduce the SIG to any of your colleagues interested in international information. In our current world of ubiquitous information, it is easy to have less familiarity with a body of research, with a current trend, or with a professional organization than we would like — being in the same boat myself, I’m all too familiar with this issue. I find that when I have a personalized introduction to a body of scholarship, trending topic, or professional society, I have more incentive to pay attention to it, and I remember more about it. With that in mind, I invite you to introduce SIG-III (and ASIS&T more broadly) to any of your colleagues who either aren’t yet familiar with the organization, or have only a passing familiarity.

Two, my fellow SIG Officers any myself would love to hear about your research and conference presentations. If you are publishing a paper or giving a presentation on an international information-related topic, tell us about it! We are always glad to know about our members research endeavors, and to facilitate connections between researchers where they have common research interests. You can let either me or incoming Chair Kate Johnson (cjohn24 [at] uwo [dot] ca) know about your work.

Beyond that, if you will be at this year’s ASIS&T Annual Meeting, I look forward to seeing you in Vancouver!

This year’s International Reception will be held on Monday, November 9, 2009, at 8pm. At the reception you will be able to meet and congratulate this year’s International Paper Contest winner and mix with colleagues from all over the world.

This year’s contest winner is Muhammad Rafiq, from Pakistan. His paper is titled “[The] LIS community’s perceptions towards open source software adoption in libraries,” and is set to be published in the September, 2009 issue of the International Information and Library Review, edited by Toni Carbo. Come meet with Muhammad Rafiq, and pick up one of the copies of IILR that Elsevier has generously donated to the event.

SIG-III will hold its annual InfoShare Silent Auction at the event. If you have items you would like to donate to the Silent Auction, please contact InfoShare Officers Abebe Rorissa (arorissa [at] albany [dot] edu) or Sarah Emmerson (saemmerson [at] yahoo [dot] com), and bring your items to the conference with you.

We will also have our annual Raffle Ticket Sale at the Reception. The prize in the Raffle is a gift basket put together by the local chapter of ASIS&T, with locally produced products and goodies. If you have something small and new that you could contribute for the basket, please contact Abebe or Sarah and bring it to the conference as well.

All proceeds from the Silent Auction and Raffle Ticket Sale will go to the SIG-III InfoShare Fund, which offers ASIS&T memberships to information professionals in developing countries for whom the cost of membership would otherwise be a financial burden.

Thank you for your support! Come enjoy yourself at the International Reception! International attire is encouraged!

The SIG-III Officers are pleased to announce the publication of the July, 2009 edition of the SIG-III Newsletter. The Newsletter is our formal record of the activities in which the SIG partakes, and the new edition represents the latest chapter in the chronicle of the SIG’s history. The contents of the new edition are

Yes, I realize I’m very early with this message, but enough has been going on over the past week that I want to share it with you all now.

The most important piece of news is that we have three winners for the International Paper Contest. Please congratulate Muhammad Rafiq, Muhammad Arif, and Saima Kanwal on their winning papers! I have announced them over the SIG-III Blog.

This post provides the perfect transition to my next topic: the SIG-III Blog’s new look. You will see that I’ve updated the layout and graphical content of the blog. I’m very excited about its new appearance, and I hope you all will stop by, leave a comment on one of the posts, and/or subscribe to the blog’s RSS feed.

Last but not least, InfoShare Officer Sarah Emmerson and I have developed a Facebook page for the SIG, which will serve as a useful compliment to the blog. If you are on Facebook, we would love to have you join our group! You may find it here.

As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thanks everyone, and enjoy the weekend!

SIG-III is pleased to announce two winners for the 2009 International Paper Contest. The first place award goes to Muhammad Rafiq (pictured above), from Pakistan, who will be awarded a two-year membership to ASIS&T, as well as funding to travel to this year’s annual Meeting. His paper is titled “[The] LIS community’s perceptions towards open source software adoption in libraries.”

The second place award goes to Muhammad Arif and Saima Kanwal, both from Pakistan as well. Their paper is titled “Acceptance of digital library among female students and effects of limited access of digital library on their performance in research work: a case of International Islamic University.” As principal author, Dr. Arif will be awarded a two-year membership to ASIS&T.